6 times just before the premiere, the present announced that Williams was still receiving treatment for concerns related to her Graves’ disorder and not able to return to live Television set just yet, and that visitor hosts would be filling in. “Wendy continues to be less than health care supervision and meets with her health-related staff on a every day basis,” the show’s manufacturing business said on Instagram. “She is earning development but is encountering critical issues as a direct consequence of Graves’ Disorder and her thyroid problem.”
Williams was identified with Graves’ disease—the most common bring about of hyperthyroidism (an overactive thyroid gland) in the U.S., in accordance to the National Institute of Diabetic issues and Digestive and Kidney Ailments (NIDDK)—over 20 several years ago. This overproduction of thyroid hormones can bring about indications like a immediate or irregular heartbeat, problems sleeping, nervousness or irritability, tiredness, muscle mass weak point, fat reduction, shaky arms, frequent bowel actions, or diarrhea.
Even though Williams’s problem had been properly-controlled, in 2018 she professional a flare-up in indications (these as mood swings) that forced her to take a hiatus from her clearly show, as SELF documented. “I experienced a storm heading in my human body is the greatest way I can demonstrate it,” Williams explained to Men and women in March 2018. Williams reported that her signs and symptoms arose just after she skipped an appointment with her endocrinologist and that she in the beginning attributed them to menopause. “I was just emotion like, ‘Alright, effectively I’m 53 and this is I guess how it’s supposed to be,’” she stated.
Treatment method solutions for Graves’ disease—which is typically diagnosed with a physical test and blood exams or imaging tests—include medication and surgery. The most prevalent treatment for Graves’ sickness in the U.S., in accordance to the NIDDK, is radioiodine treatment (using capsules of radioactive iodine, which destroys thyroid gland cells that make thyroid hormone). Amid other prevalent remedy selections are medication that lessen your thyroid’s hormone generation and operation to take away some or all of the thyroid gland. All of these solutions can enormously lower indicators, but also trigger other facet effects that require managing (these as the reverse trouble, hypothyroidism).
When Graves’ sickness is untreated or poorly managed, it raises a person’s danger of issues impacting a range of system systems, according to the Cleveland Clinic—such as Graves’ ophthalmopathy (which causes eye problems like bulging, ache, and double vision), skin problems, and heart difficulties (due to an uncontrolled irregular heartbeat). As with any persistent health issues, handling Graves’ disorder can be an ongoing task that needs not only adequate clinical treatment but also a superior romantic relationship with your medical professional and taking care of oneself. “I appreciate performing the show, but I love me additional,” as Williams set it to People today in 2018. “So I’m heading to get care of me, so I can be there for them.”
President Biden speaks about COVID-19 vaccinations in Elk Grove Village, Ill. 10 states are filing a lawsuit over the administration’s rule requiring overall health treatment employees to be vaccinated.
Susan Walsh/AP
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Susan Walsh/AP
President Biden speaks about COVID-19 vaccinations in Elk Grove Village, Sick. 10 states are submitting a lawsuit more than the administration’s rule demanding wellbeing treatment personnel to be vaccinated.
Susan Walsh/AP
A group of 10 states has filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration and its prerequisite that wellbeing care workers in the U.S. to be vaccinated against COVID-19, declaring the mandate is “unconstitutional and unlawful.”
Led by Missouri Lawyer General Eric Schmitt and Nebraska Attorney Common Doug Peterson, the 10 states say the required nationwide vaccine need will guide to shortages of wellness treatment personnel and could threaten the work opportunities of “hundreds of thousands of overall health care personnel” who risked their lives for the duration of the starting stages of the pandemic.
In addition to Missouri and Nebraska, lawyers typical from Arkansas, Kansas, Iowa, Wyoming, Alaska, South Dakota, North Dakota and New Hampshire also joined the lawsuit.
“Regrettably, with this latest mandate from the Biden Administration, final year’s healthcare heroes are turning into this year’s unemployed. Necessitating health care personnel to get a vaccination or encounter termination is unconstitutional and illegal, and could exacerbate healthcare staffing shortages to the stage of collapse, primarily in Missouri’s rural regions,” Schmitt said in a news launch.
He says his business office has been tough the Biden administration’s “unlawful edicts” and this is the newest.
“This scenario illustrates why the police electricity around obligatory vaccination has usually been the province of — and however adequately belongs to — the States,” the lawyers standard argued in their lawsuit.
The 58-website page lawsuit argues the Facilities for Medicare and Medicaid Companies vaccine mandate is intruding on states’ law enforcement power, stating it’s a violation of a number of acts and rights, which include the Administrative Treatments Act, the Social Security Act, the Tenth Modification and federalism.
“By disregarding the specifics on the floor and unreasonably dismissing concerns about workforce shortages, the CMS vaccine mandate jeopardizes the healthcare passions of rural People,” the lawsuit claims.
In September, President Biden unveiled a collection of techniques to overcome the surge of COVID-19 situations in the country, announcing that 17 million health treatment workers at hospitals and elsewhere that acquire Medicare or Medicaid funding would have to be vaccinated.
Final week, CMS issued an interim last rule requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for well being treatment employees in most configurations — this sort of as hospitals and wellbeing techniques — that participate in the Medicare and Medicaid applications.
The new necessities, which went into effect Nov. 5, will implement to about 76,000 providers.
Executives at Maui Health provided updates on the hospital’s vaccine mandate, the status of vaccine availability for kids, and hospital operations. The information was shared during the hospital’s last community Town Hall event of the year, held on Thursday.
Maui Memorial Medical Center. PC: Wendy Osher (8.16.21)
Marked Improvement Over Two Months as we Head into the Holidays
“The last time that we were here, we were in a much different situation,” said Wade Ebersole, Chief Operating Officer with Maui Health. “Delta was nearly at its peak, the hospital was incredibly busy, our staff were going to great lengths to keep people safe. We have since seen COVID wane in the past couple of weeks and we’re in a much better position right now. In fact, the infection rate is about one quarter of what it was two months ago.”
As infection rates go down and vaccinations eligibility expands, Maui Mayor Michael Victorino and Governor David Ige have announced the easing of some restrictions, effective Nov. 12, 2021.
“It’s a welcome sign,” said Ebersole. “One of the reasons we’re seeing such low numbers is because a number of our community members have been vaccinated. We know that this is one of the most important things you can do to help curb the spread of this disease, and we thank everyone who has made the decision to do that.”
As of Thursday, there were just two COVID-19 patients in the Maui hospital–neither were in the ICU or on a ventilator. This is a stark contrast from mid-August when the Maui Memorial Medical Center had 39 COVID-19 positive patients in the hospital, seven in Intensive Care and four on ventilators.
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Ebersole said despite the improvement, there’s still a lot of work to be done, noting that the hospital remains very busy.
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Dr. Michael Shea, Chief Medical Director at Maui Health said, “We’re hoping that as we begin to gather, we remember to continue to do things that have prevented spread of this disease as we go into Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s.”
“Thinking ahead to the holidays, if you’re going to gather, gather outside… Keep in mind again, social distancing, masking when you can, stay responsible, and let’s keep everybody safe,” said Dr. Shea.
Impacts of Vaccination Expansion to 5-11 Year Olds
By including the 5-11 age group in vaccination data statewide, Maui County is at a 68{fe463f59fb70c5c01486843be1d66c13e664ed3ae921464fa884afebcc0ffe6c} completion rate, and 74{fe463f59fb70c5c01486843be1d66c13e664ed3ae921464fa884afebcc0ffe6c} of the eligible population has received at least one dose.
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“In the last surge, which was our largest surge to date, we did notice that a lot of the community spread stemmed from keiki who were eligible for vaccination, brining home and spreading it to susceptible adults at home,” said Dr. Shea. “So again, making sure that we get those who are eligible vaccinated, is of vital importance to our community.”
Chrissy Miller, RN, Employee Health / Vaccine Clinic Manager, Maui Health. PC: Maui Health / Akakū
Hospital leaders say the vaccination does for small children between 5-11 years old has been ordered for the hospital, but had not yet arrived as of Thursday.
The Food and Drug Administration granted Emergency Use Authorization of the Pfizer vaccine for the age group. The dosage for 5-11 year olds is 10 micrograms, 1/3 the dose used for adults. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approved administration of the vaccine earlier this week.
Shipments of the state’s initial order of 41,700 doses of vaccine for children began arriving in the state on Monday. Some medical providers on Oʻahu and Kauaʻi have already begun offering the vaccine after receiving their shipments.
“We put in an order for the pediatric doses. We’re waiting for arrival of those doses. They haven’t arrived yet,” said Chrissy Miller, RN, Employee Health and Vaccine Clinic Manager at Maui Health. “So at this time, we’re only vaccinating those that are 12 and older; but as soon as we’re ready and we have the vaccines in, we’re going to go ahead and post on our website at https://www.mauihealth.org/covid-19/covid-19-vaccine/.”
Who is eligible to receive a vaccine or booster?
Booster shots available to all eligible individuals, as approved by the CDC, including many frontline workers, whose occupation or workplace settings present an increased risk of infection or transmission of COVID-19. As mentioned above, the dosing for 5-11 year olds had not yet arrived at the hospital as of Thursday.
Maui Health is also administering Pfizer vaccine booster doses to:
Individuals who have already received both doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, with the last dose received at least six months ago, AND who also meet one of the following criteria:
Are 65 years of age or older, or
Nursing home or assisted living residents, or
Foster homes and community care home residents, or
Are 18 to 64 years of age with underlying medical conditions, including cancer, diabetes, asthma, HIV infection, heart disease, and obesity, or
Are 18 to 64 years of age with increased risk for COVID-19 exposure and transmission because of occupational or institutional setting, including but not limited to healthcare, correctional facility staff and prisoners, and individuals in homeless shelters
Individuals who received one dose of the J&J vaccine at least two months ago and are ages 18 and older.
Mix & Match booster doses:
“The FDA did release that you can mix and match for the booster dose,” said Miller. “So, if you had two doses of the Pfizer, two doses of Moderna, or a single dose of Johnson & Johnson, and it’s been six months, you can then go ahead and mix and match.”
Miller noted that the Maui Memorial Medical Center is offering Pfizer as the booster dose at their clinic, which is located in the front lobby.
Maui Health has expanded hours for the month of November. The clinic is open from 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1-4 p.m., Monday through Friday.
DAISY Award Launched to Honor Extraordinary Nurses:
Maui Health announced the launch of a new DAISY Award to honor extraordinary nurses as they continue to work through the pandemic.
Since 1999, DAISY, which is an acronym for Diseases Attacking the Immune System, has been honoring nurses .
“Nurses have had to go above and beyond with compassionate care,” said Marian Horikawa-Barth, Chief Nurse Executive at Maui Health. “The DAISY Foundation was formed by the family of Patrick Barnes who died at age 33. He died of complications of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura. The nursing care that Partick was provided during his hospitalization profoundly touched his family… Today DAISY awards programs are seen nationally and internationally in about 5,000 health care facilities,” said Horikawa-Barth.
She encouraged the public to consider nominating nurses for recognition under the program.
“These expressions of gratitude from families and patients really go a long way in supporting nurses, especially in their high stress job, and in this high tension time… Especially right now when we have a shortage of nurses across the country, we want to retain as many nurses as possible,” said Horikawa-Barth.
Details are available at the Maui Health website.
Maui Health’s Emergency Operations Center, Chief Nursing Executive Marian Horikawa-Barth. PC: Maui Health / Akakū.
Q&A:
What’s the Latest on the Maui Hospital Visitor Policy
With declining numbers of COVID cases, the Maui Memorial Medical Center continues to evaluate the hospital’s visitor policy.
“Within the Emergency Operations Council, we are constantly evaluating a number of different policies,” said Ebersole. “We know how important family is to the healing environment. We want desperately for family members to have access to their loved ones while they are in the hospital. Balancing that with the risk to the visitors, and the risk to staff, and to patients.”
As of the middle of last month, Ebersole said, the hospital did open up visitation, but it remains “really limited” at this time. Only those who are vaccinated can visit their loved ones in the hospital.
“There is a second phase to that where we will open up the hospital visitation to everyone independent of their vaccine status; and we are evaluating the case rates in the community before we make that decision,” said Ebersole.
What are you doing with employees who refuse vaccination?
To date, Maui Health has provided more than 71,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to eligible participants. More than 97{fe463f59fb70c5c01486843be1d66c13e664ed3ae921464fa884afebcc0ffe6c} of the workforce at Maui Health has been fully vaccinated.
“As many of you may know, from the beginning I have said that choosing to get vaccinated or not, getting vaccinated is a personal decision, and that everyone has their reasons for making the decision. As health care workers, we have all been held to a higher standard, and I think that’s what’s happening now–being held to a higher standard, and I happen to agree that we should be,” said Dr. Shea.
“We, along with every other hospital in the state, all the county workers, state workers, most of the hospitals in the country, have mandated vaccines because it’s the right thing to do for our community. People do have the individual right to make a decision not to follow that mandate,” said Dr. Shea.
“At this point, for people who choose to apply for exemptions–there are exemptions potentially for deeply held beliefs in religion that may oppose vaccination or medical reason why they’d have contraindication to vaccination. They can apply for those. Those will be evaluated and if they are accepted, those individuals can be tested twice a week and continue to work,” said Dr. Shea.
If someone does not get the exemption or refuses to participate, they would be placed on administrative leave without pay for 60 days.
“The medical staff is an independent body that works with the hospital, and their Medical Executive committee also has imposed a vaccine mandate for them,” said Dr. Shea.
The Department of Health and Human Services released its rule on Thursday, to ensure that the nation’s healthcare workers are vaccinated. President Biden said, “No one should be at risk when they seek medical care.” Information on that rule is posted here.
Monoclonal Treatment Clinic at Maui Lani to End Nov. 12:
“Right now there are a number of places where you can be treated if you test positive for COVID-19, and you meet the criteria for this,” said Ebersole.
Maui Health partnered with Kaiser to set up a clinic outside the Maui Lani facility in Wailuku. “That will run through Nov. 12. After that, you can receive treatment here at the hospital,” said Ebersole.
“And if you contract COVID and think you’re eligible, please reach out to a trusted provider. They will help guide you through the appropriate steps to receive this treatment,” he said.
Monoclonal Antibody Treatment at Maui Lani. PC: Maui Health.
Emergency Use Authorization vs. Full Approval for COVID-19 Vaccines:
Emergency Use Authorization is invoked by the FDA when there is an urgent public health need.
“What it allows them to do is to shorten the time of some of the steps of the process,” said Dr. Shea. “But they don’t skip any of the steps. So they may not have as much data as [they would] for a full approval. There are some other time steps that are very time consuming and not as critical as the safety data. So they do review safety data, they review all the safety data carefully. If they feel there is no significant safety risk, then they will give Emergency Use Authorization,” said Dr. Shea.
Can people get pericarditis or myocarditis after taking the vaccine?
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, myocarditis is inflammation of the heart muscle, and pericarditis is inflammation of the outer lining of the heart.
“There are case reports of getting pericarditis… or myocarditis, which is inflammation of the heart muscle itself, after getting COVID vaccines. These cases are extremely rare. There are approximately 60 cases per million people who got the vaccine,” said Dr. Shea.
“The symptoms tend to be things like severe chest pains, severe shortness of breath, which would cause you to seek care anyway, and the FDA has discussed this and feels the risk is very, very small and is acceptable,” said Dr. Shea.
Why isn’t natural immunity considered as fulfilling the vaccine requirement? Can you test for antibodies?
“The CDC actually released a very large study last Friday, which looks at this very question,” said Dr. Shea.
“What they saw was people who had COVID, had some immunity. People who got vaccinated who hadn’t had COVID actually got better immunity than those who had COVID. But the people who had the best immunity were people had COVID and then got vaccinated,” according to Dr. Shea.
“We want you to have the best protection possible. The lowest protection is having had COVID by itself without getting vaccinated, and so… you have to be vaccinated, whether you’ve had COVID or not, essentially,” he said.
Dr. Michael Shea, Chief Medical Officer, Maui Memorial Medical Center. PC: County of Maui / Akakū (9.28.21)
The US Facilities for Condition Command and Prevention stated physicians should really be on the lookout for indications of melioidosis — a challenging-to-diagnose infection brought about by the bacteria Burkholderia pseudomallei — and should really talk to clients about whether or not they’ve made use of specified sprays.
And folks who have purchased sprays made up of “gemstones” need to not toss them out but need to pack them meticulously and mail them in for refunds, the CDC and the Client Solution Basic safety Commission stated.
Final thirty day period, the CDC explained it had traced the circumstance of a fatal B. pseudomallei an infection in Ga to an aromatherapy spray bought by Walmart. 3 other conditions, in Kansas, Minnesota and Texas, had been genetically connected to the Georgia case and the affected person in Kansas had also died.
The an infection had mystified physicians mainly because melioidosis, a tropical ailment, is usually joined to vacation and none of the infected men and women had traveled. Very careful investigation implicated Superior Households & Gardens Lavender & Chamomile Crucial Oil Infused Aromatherapy Home Spray with Gemstones, which had been produced in India.
“Testing for the existence of B. pseudomallei is underway for the 5 other scents under the exact same model with Gemstones like ‘Lemon & Mandarin’, ‘Lavender’, ‘Peppermint’, ‘Lime & Eucalyptus’, and ‘Sandalwood & Vanilla’,” the CDC reported.
“This merchandise was marketed on the internet nationwide as a result of Walmart and dispersed to a limited amount of Walmart suppliers concerning February and Oct 21, 2021.” In the meantime, people today need to not use individuals merchandise, it explained. The CPSC included the five added scents to its recall this week – 3,900 bottles in whole.
The CDC issued a health and fitness notify for physicians and other clinicians to be on the lookout for persons with signs and symptoms like an acute or continual localized infection that may perhaps include large fever, ache, headache, as well as abscesses in the liver, lung, spleen, and prostate. Patients need to be asked about possible publicity to aromatherapy sprays such as “staying in the place when the solution is being sprayed, obtaining immediately ‘sniffed’ or inhaled from the merchandise bottle, acquiring immediate speak to with an merchandise (these kinds of as pillowcases or other linens) on which the product or service has been sprayed,” the CDC added.
“People today who have the Improved Households & Gardens Aromatherapy Space Spray ‘Lavender & Chamomile’ with Gemstones product or service, or any of the other recalled scents with Gemstones (such as Lemon & Mandarin, Lavender, Peppermint, Lime & Eucalyptus, and Sandalwood & Vanilla) in their homes should just take the pursuing safeguards:
“Quit employing this solution immediately. Do not open the bottle. Do not throw absent or dispose of the bottle in the standard trash.
“Double bag the bottle in clean up, very clear zip-top luggage and spot in a cardboard box. Return the bagged and boxed product or service to a Walmart shop.
“Wash sheets or linens that the solution might have been sprayed on using ordinary laundry detergent and dry totally in a incredibly hot dryer bleach can be applied if wished-for.
“Wipe down counters and surfaces that may well have the spray on them with undiluted PineSol or related disinfectant.
“Limit direct handling of the spray bottle and clean arms carefully just after touching the bottle or linens. If gloves ended up utilised, wash palms afterward.
“If you employed the item inside of the earlier 21 days and develop a fever or other melioidosis indicators, you should really seek out medical treatment and tell your health practitioner about your publicity to the spray. If you do not have signs or symptoms but were being uncovered to the product or service in the last 7 days, your health care provider may recommend that you get antibiotics (post-publicity prophylaxis) to avoid an infection.”
Watch this page throughout the day for updates on COVID-19 in Edmonton
Author of the article:
Postmedia News
Publishing date:
Oct 11, 2021 • 2 days ago • 9 minute read • 10 Comments
A pedestrian, wearing a protective COVID-19 face mask, makes their way along 109 Street near 82 Avenue, in Edmonton Tuesday Aug. 31, 2021. Photo by David BloomPhoto by David Bloom /Postmedia
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COVID-19 news happens rapidly, we have created this file to keep you up-to-date on all the latest stories and information on the outbreak in and around Edmonton.
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What’s happening now
Share your COVID-19 stories
As Alberta grapples with a fourth wave of COVID-19 at the start of another school year, we’re looking to hear your stories on this evolving situation.
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Have you or a loved one had a surgery rescheduled or cancelled in recent weeks?
Are you someone who has decided to get vaccinated after previously being skeptical of the vaccines?
Have you changed your mind about sending your children back to school in person?
Have you enrolled your children in a private school due to COVID-19?
Are you a frontline health-care worker seeing new strains on the health system? Send us your stories via email at [email protected]
1:33 p.m.
Alberta Health Services responds to more than 3,000 COVID-19 health measure complaints
Anna Junker
The Alberta Health Services building in Calgary, Feb. 24, 2021.Photo by Brendan Miller/Postmedia
Alberta Health Services has received more than 3,000 COVID-19 related complaints or requests in recent weeks.
The calls have come in between Sept. 16 and Oct. 5, said spokesman Kerry Williamson. They include requests from the public asking for AHS Environmental Public Health (EPH) to check if businesses, facilities, operators or events are complying with current COVID-19 public health measures, including masking, capacity and gathering limits, and compliance with the Restrictions Exemption Program.
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“If AHS is made aware of a complaint, Public Health Inspectors carry out an education or advisory role as an initial step when responding. AHS does not issue tickets or fines,” Williamson said.
“The goal of AHS’ Safe Healthy Environments team is to protect the health and safety of the Albertans. AHS Public Health Inspectors always seek to work collaboratively with businesses and organizations to ensure compliance with CMOH orders and current public health measures.”
Read more
11:52 a.m.
U.S will open to travellers immunized with vaccines approved by WHO, FDA and CDC
The Canadian Press
A U.S. and a Canadian flag flutter at the Canada-United States border crossing at the Thousand Islands Bridge, in Lansdowne, Ont., Sept. 28, 2020.Photo by Lars Hagberg /Reuters
The United States will accept international travellers immunized with COVID-19 vaccines approved by the World Health Organization and the Food and Drug Administration.
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the decision today in an email and said more guidance will be provided as requirements are finalized.
White House officials said last month the U.S. would begin welcoming fully vaccinated international travellers in November, but they did not say which vaccines would be accepted.
The news means Canadians immunized with the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine will be able to travel to the U.S. when new travel rules come into play next month.
The AstraZeneca vaccine is approved by the World Health Organization, but not by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The CDC says it began informing airlines of its decision last week.
Sunday
Canada’s overworked health-care sector brace for staff shortages as vaccine mandates loom
National Post
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An ICU team helping to intubate a patient suffering from COVID-19 at Humber River Hospital in Toronto.Photo by Cole Burston / AFP
Canada’s health and long-term care industries are bracing for staff shortages and layoffs, as deadlines for vaccine mandates loom across the country with unions pushing federal and provincial governments to soften hard-line stances.
For hospitals and nursing homes, a shortage of workers would strain the already overburdened workforce dealing with nearly two years of the pandemic.
The uncertainty sparked by vaccine mandates underscores the challenges on the road to recovery. Devon Greyson, assistant professor of public health at the University of British Columbia, said officials are steering into uncharted waters with mass vaccine mandates and it’s not clear how workers will respond.
“A shortage of workers can mean people’s health and well being. It’s scary,” Greyson said.
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However, he added, “we’re in an ethical situation where it’s also scary not to ensure that all health workers are vaccinated. So it’s a bit of a catch-22.”
To tackle staff scarcity, at least one province is offering signing bonuses to nurses. Provinces including Quebec and British Columbia have made it mandatory for healthcare workers and nursing staff to be vaccinated to continue working in their respective fields.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also unveiled one of the strictest vaccine mandates in the world last week, saying unvaccinated federal employees will be sent on unpaid leave and making COVID-19 shots mandatory for air, train, and ship passengers.
Layoffs have already started to hit, with one hospital in southern Ontario last week dumping 57 employees, representing 2.5 per cent of staff, after its vaccine mandate came into effect. A long-term care home in Toronto put 36 per cent of its staff on unpaid leave after they refused to get vaccinated, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp reported.
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https://edmontonjournal.com/newsletters/
Letter of the day
Covid-19 forces Captain Jason Kenney to walk the plank. (Cartoon by Malcolm Mayes)Malcolm Mayes
It’s not surprising that Premier Kenney wants to take Alberta children back to the 19th century by making rote learning central to the curriculum. He is a rote thinker, apparently capable of only two ideas — low taxes and incentives for business — which are basically just one idea. He constantly parrots his one idea that everything else is secondary to business, and that more business is the solution to every problem. This blinkered thinking partially explains the current mess our province is in.
With three grandchildren between the ages of four and nine, I am extremely concerned that children between five and nine are now increasingly contracting COVID, due to the government’s shortsighted decision to end contact tracing in schools and elsewhere. I am continually amazed at how my grandchildren have rolled with all the shocks and changes of the past year and a half, although who knows what the long-term effects on the mental and physical health of any of us will be. Children don’t need to memorize facts. They need to learn how to access facts in order to acquire knowledge and ideas, so they can become developed human beings and critical thinkers. I suggest that Premier Kenney take a break from politics, go back to school, and finish off that philosophy degree. He could come up with some new and useful ideas relevant to the 21st century.
K.D. Grove, Edmonton
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Letters Welcome
We invite you to write letters to the editor. A maximum of 150 words is preferred. Letters must carry a first and last name, or two initials and a last name, and include an address and daytime telephone number. All letters are subject to editing. We don’t publish letters addressed to others or sent to other publications. Email: [email protected]
Saturday
Pregnant patients can bring COVID-19-positive person for support while giving birth at Alberta hospitals
Lauren Boothby
The Alberta government is urging pregnant women and those who are trying to become pregnant to get the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible.Postmedia Wire
Maternity patients giving birth in Alberta hospitals can bring a person infected with COVID-19 with them for support, Alberta Health Services (AHS) said in a series of tweets Saturday afternoon.
AHS confirmed an exemption to quarantine rules allows a COVID-19 positive person to join a pregnant patient in exceptional circumstances and if the hospital is made aware ahead of time. A chief medical officer of health order in effect since July 29 says this designated support person must stay two metres away from everyone except the patient and infant.
“These exemptions, which have been in effect since July 2021, are granted under exceptional circumstances and only at the request of the patient giving birth. We know the importance of having support at this time. This is a critical part of our approach to patient centred care,” reads an AHS tweet.
Despite this, the provincial health authority says there are protocols in place to make sure people are safe.
“The patient & essential support person will remain under contact & droplet isolation. This includes the facility providing access to bathroom facilities & food,” AHS says.
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Saturday
Alcohol-related illnesses in Alberta surging during COVID-19 pandemic
Blair McBride
Alberta is seeing a surge in alcohol-related illnesses that can be attributed to the COVID-19 pandemicPhoto by Nicole Bengiveno /NYT
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Alberta is seeing a surge in alcohol-related illnesses that can be attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, experts say.
Mental and behavioural disorders resulting from alcohol use as well as alcohol-related depression and withdrawal are among the few non-COVID causes of hospital admission that have increased in the province since March 2020, says Calgary physician Dr. Eddy Lang.
An article co-written by Lang that was published in the medical journal PLOS ONE in June revealed alcohol consumption rose from the fifth-highest cause of hospitalization in the province to the third during the first six months of the pandemic.
Alcohol-related illnesses accounted for 3.46 per cent of hospital admissions between March and September 2020, up from 2.65 per cent in that timeframe the previous year.
“Considering the number of hospitalizations we have in Alberta, that’s a significant increase,” Lang said, attributing the rising drinking rates to heightened feelings of pandemic anxiety.
“There’s been lots of lost employment and family separation. We know that people are managing that with alcohol and cannabis. That’s going to manifest with people going overboard,” he said. “Alcohol is like gasoline on the fire of mental illness. If you’re already depressed you might think alcohol will make you feel better but in long run it makes things worse because it contributes to suicidal thoughts.”
Increased rates of drinking in Alberta are also showing up in liver health.
Hospitalizations for alcoholic hepatitis rose by 90.5 per cent in the first wave of the pandemic, according to a study soon to be published in the journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.
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Saturday
Albertans leave messages at UCP MLA offices to say no thanks to the government
Gil McGowan (front, President, Alberta Federation of Labour), Jeffrey Strom, Beth Strom and Karen Kuprys (right, Secretary Treasurer, Alberta Federation of Labour) invited concerned citizens to Alberta UCP MLA Kaycee Madu’s office in Edmonton on Saturday, October 9, 2021, to leave messages voicing their disapproval to the Alberta government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants also shared their messages on social media with the hashtag #NoThanksGivenUCP. (PHOTO BY LARRY WONG/POSTMEDIA)Photo by Larry Wong /Postmedia
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Albertan have been leaving messages at UCP MLA offices to say no thank you to the government that has needlessly endangered peoples lives.
In a Thursday news release, the Alberta Federation of Labour asked Albertans to leave messages at UCP MLAs offices saying no thank you for the government’s handling of COVID-19 outbreaks on Saturday. They could also leave comments on social media using #NoThanksGivenUCP
The group says that Albertans are angry that hospitals are over capacity, health-care workers are being pushed to their breaking point, surgeries are being cancelled and many schools are facing outbreaks in the news release.
“The UCP refuse to take needed actions to keep Albertans safe,” says the release.
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‘I see you ICU:’ Albertans express gratitude for health-care workers at Thanksgiving
The Canadian Press
Teams in a crowded Calgary intensive care unit tend to a COVID-19 patient on a ventilator.Photo by Supplied by Alberta Health Services
Hundreds of Albertans are sending coffee, gift cards and Thanksgiving meals to those working in intensive care units overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients.
J’Val Shuster says she and her staff at Devour Catering will be delivering turkey dinners to 200 nurses, doctors and health-care staff at four Calgary hospitals on Sunday and more meals are to be delivered in the days to come. People have been paying $15 a meal through the company’s “I See You ICU” drive.
“We’ve had over 1,700 people purchase a total of 6,000meals for doctors, nurses and staff,” Shuster said.
“Nurses (have said) even if they don’t get the meals, they’re very uplifted just by the fact that people are showing their support and wanting to do something.”
Shuster said she began the idea last month as she struggled to keep her business afloat. Support has been so overwhelming, she said, she has had to temporarily stop taking meal orders.
“We’re going to co-ordinate with all the departments at what frequency they want the remaining ordered meals. We can’t prepare 6,000 meals at once.”
Betty Wade of Calgary purchased 50 dinners for health-care staff.
“I’m absolutely thankful for them, particularly now in this fourth wave,” said the retiree.
“They’ll have something at the doorstep when they leave their shift that makes them realize that they are appreciated more than they know by so many people. We are very, very thankful for every one of them doing their job saving lives as best they can in this situation.”
She recalled that at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic many cheered and clapped for workers on the streets.
“But there’s a difference now … it’s the intensity in the ICU and in the hospitals,” she said.
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Editor’s note: This is a live account of COVID-19 updates from Tuesday, October 5, as the day unfolded. It is no longer being updated. Click here to see all the most recent news about the pandemic, and click here to find additional resources.
Washington health officials on Monday urged state residents to stay as healthy as possible as the deadline for state workers to receive the COVID-19 vaccine approaches in a couple of weeks. Officials cited worries that the inability of unvaccinated health employees to work may place additional strains on hospitals already struggling with staffing.
Meanwhile, federal authorities charged a Michigan nurse with stealing coronavirus vaccination cards from the hospital where she worked and selling them to unvaccinated individuals at $150-$200 during a period of over four months.
We’re updating this page with the latest news about the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on the Seattle area, the U.S. and the world. Click here to see previous days’ live updates and all our other coronavirus coverage, and here to see how we track the daily spread across Washington and the world.
Full house: Fans flow, home-field edge back for MLB playoffs
Kevin Kiermaier and the Tampa Bay Rays fought furiously in 2020 for their first division title in over a decade, assuring themselves home-field advantage throughout the AL playoffs.
In the end, it meant little more than last at-bats and a more comfortable clubhouse in San Diego.
The reigning AL champions are back as the league’s top seed, anticipating a few more travel miles and a lot more adrenaline. Plus, this time the fan noise will be real.
“It’s going to be a lot different from last year,” said Kiermaier, a defensive whiz in the outfield. “And obviously for the better.”
Baseball’s postseason is returning to its pre-pandemic format a year after COVID-19 confined most of last October’s action to empty stadiums in neutral sites. It’s a welcome change for players who pushed through last year’s playoffs supplying their own energy on a stage normally powered by the buzz created by live audiences.
Read the full story here.
—Jake Seiner, The Associated Press
Two Texas university employees asked students if they were vaccinated. They were fired weeks later.
On move-in day in August, students in the Texas Academy of Leadership in the Humanities arrived at their dorm at Lamar University and were handed a blue slip of paper.
The form asked the students – gifted high school juniors and seniors from around the state – if they had been vaccinated against the coronavirus or if they planned to get immunized. With just a few exceptions, almost all of the nearly 30 students said they had already been vaccinated.
Relieved by the outcome, student services coordinator Bruce Hodge emailed the results of the survey to the university dean who oversees the program. Shortly thereafter, he said, the dean responded and asked what he planned to do with the information.
In conversations with the dean, Hodge said he wanted to be prepared for a worst-case scenario. He and his colleagues who run the program essentially act as parents in absentia for the mostly 16- and 17-year-old participants, making sure they are safe in their dorm rooms each night, caring for them in sickness, and even taking them to urgent care or the emergency room if needed.
“I could foresee a situation with an incapacitated student where I couldn’t reach a parent and a doctor is asking me if they’re vaccinated,” Hodge told The Washington Post.
Read the full story here.
—Jessica Lipscomb, The Washington Post
Idaho governor, National Guard boss shun lt. gov. actions
Idaho Gov. Brad Little said he will rescind an executive order involving COVID-19 vaccines by Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin, and the commanding general of the Idaho National Guard also on Tuesday told McGeachin she can’t activate troops to send to the U.S.-Mexico border.
Little and Major General Michael J. Garshak made the statements as McGeachin on Tuesday in a flurry of activity attempted to exercise her authority as acting governor with Little out of the state.
Little is in Texas meeting with nine other Republican governors over concerns on how President Joe Biden is handling border issues. McGeachin, a far-right Republican, is running for governor. In Idaho, the governor and lieutenant governor don’t run on the same ticket.
McGeachin’s executive order issued Tuesday afternoon seeks, among other things, to prevent employers from requiring their employees be vaccinated against COVID-19. Most mainstream Republicans prefer to stay out of the employee-employer relationship.
Read the full story here.
—Keith Ridler, The Associated Press
One-third of Seattle cops haven’t submitted proof of COVID vaccination so far
With less than two weeks until a city deadline, more than 350 Seattle police officers —afull one-third of all cops available to be called into service in the city — have yet to submit proof showing they’ve been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, a department spokesperson acknowledged Tuesday.
Sgt. Randy Huserik, a spokesman for the department, confirmed the figures on Tuesday, but said officers who haven’t submitted vaccination records are not yet out of compliance with the city’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate.
The total number of officers who had not submitted vaccination records — 354 — was the latest count presented during a videoconference among Seattle police commanders Tuesday, according to sources familiar with the presentation. The number represents 33{fe463f59fb70c5c01486843be1d66c13e664ed3ae921464fa884afebcc0ffe6c} of all officers in service, the sources and city figures say.
“The actual deadline isn’t until Oct. 18,” Huserik said. “So, we will continue to urge people to get their cards in during the next two weeks, and then figure out what our hard numbers will become Oct. 19.”
Read the full story here.
—Lewis Kamb and Daniel Beekman
State health officials confirm 2,392 new coronavirus cases
The update brings the state’s totals to 670,207 cases and 7,860 deaths, meaning that 1.2{fe463f59fb70c5c01486843be1d66c13e664ed3ae921464fa884afebcc0ffe6c} of people diagnosed in Washington have died, according to the DOH. The data is as of 11:59 p.m. Monday. Tallies may be higher earlier in the week because new state data isn’t reported on weekends.
In addition, 37,238 people have been hospitalized in the state due to the virus — 109 new hospitalizations. In King County, the state’s most populous, state health officials have confirmed a total of 153,740 COVID-19 diagnoses and 1,889 deaths.
Since vaccinations began in mid-December, the state and health care providers have administered 9,154,939 doses and 58.3{fe463f59fb70c5c01486843be1d66c13e664ed3ae921464fa884afebcc0ffe6c} of Washingtonians have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to vaccination data, which the state updates on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Providers are currently giving an average of about 15,583 vaccine shots per day.
The DOH says its daily case reports may also include duplicate test results, results assigned to the wrong county, results that are reported for today but are actually from a previous day, occasional false positive tests and other data discrepancies. Because of this, the previous day’s total number of cases plus the number of new daily cases does not add up to the new day’s total number of cases. State health officials recommend reviewing the dashboard’s epidemiologic curves tab for the most accurate representation of the state’s COVID-19 spread.
Rapid At-Home COVID Tests Are About to Become Much More Widely Available, FDA Says
Rapid at-home COVID-19 testing is about to become much more widely available in the United States, the Food and Drug Administration said, following authorization of a mass-produced testing kit.
Competing at-home tests have been on the market for months, but Acon Laboratories’ test, authorized by the agency Monday, “is expected to double rapid at-home testing capacity in the U.S. over the next several weeks,” Dr. Jeffrey E. Shuren, director of the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, said in a statement.
“By year’s end, the manufacturer plans to produce more than 100 million tests per month, and this number will rise to 200 million per month by February 2022,” he said.
Like tests already available from Abbott, Quidel, Becton Dickinson and other makers, Acon’s test is made to detect antigens, proteins from the coronavirus, on a nasal swab, and produces results in 15 minutes.
Read the full story here.
—Richard Perez-Pena, The New York Times
Lindsey Graham told Republicans they ‘ought to think about’ getting a coronavirus vaccine. They booed him.
South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham was only midway through his sentence when the crowd began shouting over him.
“If you haven’t had the vaccine you ought to think about getting it because if you’re my age — “
“No!” attendees at a Republican event held Saturday responded as others booed. Graham was speaking at a country club in Summerville, S.C., about 25 miles outside of Charleston.
Bowing his head and holding up a hand, the 66-year-old — who got his coronavirus vaccine in December — responded to the crowd, telling them, “I didn’t tell you to get it. You ought to think about it.”
Read the full story here.
—Gina Harkins, The Washington Post
A maker of rapid coronavirus tests recalls nearly 200,000 kits over concerns of false positives
Ellume, an Australian company that makes a widely available at-home coronavirus test, has recalled nearly 200,000 test kits because of concerns about a higher-than-expected rate of false positives. That represents about 5.6{fe463f59fb70c5c01486843be1d66c13e664ed3ae921464fa884afebcc0ffe6c} of the approximately 3.5 million test kits Ellume has shipped to the United States.
The company, which detected the problem in mid-September, traced the issue to variations in the quality of one of the raw materials used in the test kit, Dr. Sean Parsons, Ellume’s CEO, said. He declined to specify the material in question, citing a desire not to publicly disclose precisely how the test kits work.
Approximately 427,000 test kits, including some provided to the U.S. Department of Defense, were affected by the problem, Parsons said. Roughly half have already been used, he said, yielding about 42,000 positive results. As many as one-quarter of those positives may have been inaccurate, Parsons said, although he stressed that it would be difficult to determine exactly how many.
Read the story here.
—Emily Anthes, The New York Times
King County woman confirmed to have died from rare J&J vaccine complication
A King County woman in her late 30s has become the first person in Washington state to die from a rare blood-clotting syndrome after receiving the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, local health officials confirmed Tuesday morning.
The woman received her shot on Aug. 26. She died less than two weeks later on Sept. 7, according to a statement from Public Health — Seattle & King County.
Public health officials said the syndrome was a “very rare” complication of the vaccine. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has counted three other similar deaths nationally.
“We at Public Health are saddened by this loss and offer condolences to the woman’s family and loved ones,” the Tuesday statement said.
The woman’s cause of death was thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS), a condition researchers have said is a rare but “potentially serious adverse event in people who received the J&J vaccine,” the statement said.
Her diagnosis was confirmed by the CDC’s clinical immunization safety assessment project, according to the public health department.
Read the story here.
—Elise Takahama
Arizona can’t use COVID money for anti-mask grants, feds say
The Biden administration on Tuesday ordered Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey to stop using the state’s federal pandemic funding on a pair of new education grants that can only be directed to schools without mask mandates.
In a letter to Ducey, the Treasury Department said the grant programs are “not a permissible use” of the federal funding. It’s the latest attempt by the Biden administration to push back against Republican governors who have opposed mask mandates and otherwise sought to use federal pandemic funding to advance their own agendas.
Ducey, a Republican, created the grant programs in August to put pressure on school districts that have defied the state’s ban on mask mandates.
Read the story here.
—Collin Binkley, The Associated Press
Thousands of SEIU 775 home-care workers remain exempt from Gov. Inslee’s vaccine mandate
The sweeping vaccination mandate issue d by Gov. Jay Inslee demands that hundreds of thousands of health care and government workers get fully vaccinated by Oct. 18 or face firing.
That includes doctors and nurses, chiropractors and massage therapists, and people working in dental offices, pharmacies and midwifery centers. It also applies to tens of thousands of K-12 and state government employees, including many still working remotely from home.
Inslee has generally played hardball with his order, declining to offer a regular testing alternative like those offered in other states for employees who don’t want to receive COVID-19 vaccines.
But his order included a big carve-out — exempting tens of thousands of unionized home-care workers who care for older adults and people with disabilities, helping them with meals, dressing, bathing and other daily tasks. On Page 9 of Inslee’s Aug. 20 proclamation was a little-noticed clause stating the mandate does not apply to “individual providers” and others who offer personal care in someone’s home.
Washington has about 45,000 such providers, who contract with the state to provide in-home services to clients who are eligible for care through Medicaid. Thousands more not covered by the mandate are home-care workers who are trained, paid and supervised by larger home-care agencies.
Read the story here.
—Jim Brunner and Paige Cornwell
Everything you need to know about Merck’s game-changing COVID pill
Molnupiravir, an antiviral pill being developed by Merck & Co., has been touted as a potential game changer in the fight against COVID-19.
The experimental medication was shown to reduce the risk of hospitalization or death by about half in a late-stage study of adults with mild-to-moderate cases.
The promise of a drug that patients can easily get and take at home has prompted some governments to order supplies even before regulators have decided whether to approve its use.
Read the story here to learn more about molnupiravir.
—Jason Gale, Bloomberg
Vaccines are here. School’s open. Some parents still agonize
Eight days into the school year, all five of Amber Cessac’s daughters, ages 4 to 10, had tested positive for COVID-19.
Having them all sick at once and worrying about long-term repercussions as other parents at their school, and even her own mother, downplayed the virus, “broke something inside of me,” Cessac said.
“The anxiety and the stress has sort of been bottled up,” she said. “It just felt so, I don’t know, defeating and made me feel so helpless.”
Like parents everywhere, Cessac has been dealing with pandemic stress for over 18 months now.
There’s the exhaustion of worrying about the disease itself— made worse by the spread of the more infectious delta variant, particularly among people who refuse vaccinations, which has caused a big increase in infections in children.
Online school disrupted kids’ educations and parents’ work. Then the return of in-person school this year brought rising exposures and community tension as parents fought over proper protocols. The politicization of masks, vaccines and shutdowns have worn many parents out. Deciding what’s OK for children to do and what isn’t can feel fraught.
Read the story here.
—Tali Arbel, The Associated Press
Pfizer’s COVID vaccine provides 90{fe463f59fb70c5c01486843be1d66c13e664ed3ae921464fa884afebcc0ffe6c} protection against hospitalization for 6 months, study finds
The Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine is 90{fe463f59fb70c5c01486843be1d66c13e664ed3ae921464fa884afebcc0ffe6c} effective at preventing hospitalization for up to six months, with no signs of waning during that time period, according to a large new U.S. study conducted by researchers at Pfizer and Kaiser Permanente.
The vaccine also provides powerful protection against the highly contagious delta variant, the scientists found. In a subset of people who had samples of their virus sequenced, the vaccine was 93{fe463f59fb70c5c01486843be1d66c13e664ed3ae921464fa884afebcc0ffe6c} effective against hospitalization from delta, compared with 95{fe463f59fb70c5c01486843be1d66c13e664ed3ae921464fa884afebcc0ffe6c} against hospitalization from other variants.
“Protection against hospitalization remains high over time, even when delta predominates,” said Sara Tartof, an public health researcher at Kaiser Permanente Southern California and the first author of the study.
The vaccine’s effectiveness against infection did decline over time, however, falling from 88{fe463f59fb70c5c01486843be1d66c13e664ed3ae921464fa884afebcc0ffe6c} during the first month after vaccination to 47{fe463f59fb70c5c01486843be1d66c13e664ed3ae921464fa884afebcc0ffe6c} after five months.
Read the story here.
—Emily Anthes, The New York Times
Venice, overwhelmed by tourists, tries tracking them
As the pandemic chased away visitors, some Venetians allowed themselves to dream of a different city — one that belonged as much to them as to the tourists who crowd them out of their stone piazzas, cobblestone alleyways and even their apartments.
In a quieted city, the chiming of its 100 bell towers, the lapping of canal waters and the Venetian dialect suddenly became the dominant soundtrack. The cruise ships that disgorged thousands of day-trippers and caused damaging waves in the sinking city were gone, and then banned.
But now, the city’s mayor is taking crowd control to a new level, pushing high-tech solutions that alarm even many of those who have long campaigned for a Venice for Venetians.
The city’s leaders are acquiring the cellphone data of unwitting tourists and using hundreds of surveillance cameras to monitor visitors and prevent crowding. Next summer, they plan to install long-debated gates at key entry points; visitors coming only for the day will have to book ahead and pay a fee to enter. If too many people want to come, some will be turned away.
The conservative and business-friendly mayor, Luigi Brugnaro, and his allies say their aim is to create a more livable city for beleaguered Venetians.
“Either we are pragmatic, or we live in the world of fairy tales,” said Paolo Bettio, who heads Venis, the company that handles the city’s information technology.
Read the story here.
—Emma Bubola, The New York Times
Virus deaths in Russia hit record for third time this month
Coronavirus deaths in Russia hit a record for the third time this month on Tuesday, and daily new infections once again exceeded 25,000 — a surge that comes as vaccination rates in the country remain stagnantly low and the government shuns imposing tough restrictions to stem the spread.
Russia’s state coronavirus task force reported 25,110 new confirmed cases on Tuesday and 895 new deaths — the country’s highest daily death toll in the pandemic. The previous record, of 890 deaths, was registered on Sunday, and the one before that, of 887 deaths, occurred on Friday.
The Kremlin has said that the situation elicits concern, but still it is not considering a countrywide lockdown or any other nationwide measures.
Read the story here.
—The Associated Press
AstraZeneca asks FDA to authorize COVID antibody treatment
AstraZeneca, the drugmaker that developed one of the first COVID-19 vaccines, has asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to authorize the emergency use of a first-of-a-kind antibody treatment to prevent the disease.
The Anglo-Swedish company said Tuesday that the treatment, known as AZD7442, would be the first long-acting antibody combination to receive an emergency authorization for COVID-19 prevention. If authorized, the drug would likely be limited to people with compromised immune systems who don’t get sufficient protection from vaccination.
The FDA has authorized three other antibody drugs already, including two that can be given after a possible COVID-19 exposure to head off symptoms. AstraZeneca’s drug would instead be given as a preventive measure in people who have increased vulnerability to the virus.
The FDA has stressed that antibody drugs are not a substitute for vaccination, which is the most effective, long-lasting form of virus protection. Antibody drugs also are expensive to produce and require an IV or injection and health care workers to administer.
Read the story here.
—The Associated Press
WHO still reviewing Sputnik V vaccine, as Russia presses bid
The World Health Organization is still reviewing data about Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine as part of hopes that it can be approved by the U.N. health agency for emergency use against coronavirus, but said Tuesday that no decision is imminent.
The clarification comes after Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko in recent days said that administrative issues were among the main holdups in WHO’s decision-making process about whether to grant an emergency use listing to Sputnik V, as it has for a half-dozen other vaccines.
Such approval would be a show of international confidence in the vaccine after a rigorous review process, and could pave the way for its inclusion into the COVAX program organized by WHO and key partners that is shipping COVID-19 vaccines to scores of countries around the world based on need.
Read the story here.
—The Associated Press
Catch up on the past 24 hours
Will Washington’s highest-paid employee lose his job? There’s no reason to believe WSU football coach Nick Rolovich got a vaccine in time to comply with the state’s mandate. That leaves one path: an exemption. A look at how that works shows the end of this saga could get really messy.
Everyone, please stay as healthy as possible because this is really not the time to need care, Seattle-area hospitals are warning. They’re worried about an exodus of unvaccinated health care workers who didn’t get their shots in time to meet the mandate. Some state workers will get extra time to comply, Gov. Jay Inslee’s administration said yesterday.
People who got the Johnson & Johnson and Moderna vaccines could get booster shots as soon as this month. J&J today sought U.S. approval, touting how a second dose revs up immunity. Meanwhile, a new study details how Pfizer’s vaccine holds up against the delta variant.
Alaska villagers tried to keep out COVID-19 by putting a gate on the only road in and taking turns guarding it around the clock. For remote places like Tanacross, hours away from the closest hospital, the dangers are high as Alaska sees one of the nation’s sharpest COVID-19 surges.
